A Fund for Women

The letter "F" is a double dose today.
I think this video is interesting on several fronts. First, the orange graphic and use of the logo, offers a graphic "impact" a good bit more than a typical business video. Second, proper planning prevents poor performance. Although I like to think this turned out OK, when an intangible service is the subject, often times where to place the video is an issue, since there is nothing to look at, nothing to show. It is the strength, interest, and enthusiasm of the narrators that carries the video. The issue of b-roll is closely related. When there is nothing to show in terms of a product, the location and the people talking are relied upon to carry the whole video. A video centered upon something tangible is a bit easier because, while the narrator remains critical, there is other material (b-roll) to cut away to and look at.

Client-side thinking and planning in advance remain issues in the business video world. Salespeople, for the most part, lack the experience or understanding to sell it and - short of doing it yourself, most clients do not really understand the scenario that they need to spend time planning for and organizing. For example, when these three women arrived at a third party site, none of them knew what they wanted to talk about, we had no supporting materials, and they were nervous. None of them had done this before. On the upside, they were all involved in "A Fund for Women" and quickly figured out a theme. On the downside, no one had done video before, so body language, voice, tone, and using persuasion in lieu of declaration were harder to pin down and resolve. As they USUALLY are in every business video project.

Good people working and caring about a worthy topic. I like to think that this video, however they used it, did their cause some good.

The video below, is Foot and Ankle Associates, as you are no doubt hearing. While their work is intangible for the most part, the location is far stronger and very relevant, relative to the video above. This is not a good or bad, a doctor's office with three narrators, live models, and relevant props simply makes a stronger background. I think both positively promote the business and cause. As both illustrate in different ways, location, planning, and a "show and share" aspect can strongly enhance business video.